20 Questions: Apollonia

Apollonia is the label and DJ collective of Dyed Soundorom, Dan Ghenacia, and Shonky—three widely respected DJ-producers in their own right. The project started in early 2012, stemming from Ghenacia's Freak n' Chic imprint: sharing the same musical roots, tastes, and creative vision, Apollonia was conceived as a platform for their shared musical vision, which Soundorom once articulated as "white soul meets black music" in an interview with Resident Advisor. Groove-laden and wonderfully entertaining, Apollonia DJ sets often see the trio playing for five hours or more with a back-to-back concept with one record each—for the full duration of the show. Meanwhile, the label serves as a platform for their productions and those of close friends, many of whom have already done much to shape the underground house scene, in Paris and beyond. Ahead of their performance at The BPM Festival: Portugal, where they will join a heap of great names, the boys took the time out to answer our 20 questions.

1. Where are you right now?

Shonky: Berlin, back in the studio. I was away from here for one month, and I was missing it a lot.

Dyed: Ibiza! recovering from a great after party at Shonky's house, although he wasn't there.

The nineties, the time when we discovered everything. But we also really like what’s going on right now though

10. Tell us about the formation of Apollonia—is there a story behind it?

We’ve known each other since around '98/'99. Dan was resident at Batofar, for their after-party in Paris. Shonky and Dyed were regular faces at the party—that’s where we met and became friends and started to DJ together. Shonky and Dyed began making music and Dan released it through his old label Freak N’Chic. A few years ago, after Freak N’Chic came to an end, we wanted to do something new that involved all three of us and so, in 2012, we decided to think more globally and do something that focused on the artistic side of things, as well as business.

11. What do you do to keep touring fresh and exciting?

Actually, we’re still very excited about everything, we love our job. Since we formed Apollonia it’s been even more fun. All the things that you may experience when you’re alone just vanish when you do it with your crew.

12. What excites you most about the current scene in Paris?

The last three to four years have seen a real explosion in the scene, the party scene has grown and there’s a very strong underground movement. The vibe is great at the moment.

13. Who are some up-and-coming French producers to look out for?

Traumer is a very exciting guy. He has a lot of different aliases and he’s young and super productive. Tolga Fidan is also having a great moment.

14. With a non-stop touring schedule, an app, and a label, what's next for Apollonia?

We’re trying to keep everything the same, working on the label, touring a lot and making music.

15. What's the longest set you have played?

Last winter we were playing at Gazgolder in Moscow. We started to play at 3 am inside the club until 9 am then jumped on the terrace until 3 pm, and then.. cause it's not the end, we moved to another club which happened to be some ancient Turkish baths protected by UNESCO, and turned into an after-hours club. In the end, we played for 22 hours, and we all missed our flights!